Michael Bay is producing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie to be directed by the Battle Los Angeles guy, which is a sentence I never hoped to type. Earlier this week Bay said the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “are from an alien race, and they’re going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely loveable.” He followed up the fan rage at that idea by posting at his official site that “Fans need to take a breath, and chill.” He also said, “Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story.”

Co-creator Peter Laird already made it clear that he’s not the one working on it, and he didn’t seem too happy about changing mutants into aliens. Yesterday, the other TMNT co-creator, Kevin Eastman, posted the picture to the right on his Facebook along with the following message:

Hey Guys, Sorry to have been away for so long–completely swamped with work–but it is some pretty exciting stuff. I had been invited to check out the TMNT film development by my friend Scott Mednick over the years, and a while back had a full look behind the curtian [sic] at what writers Appelbaum and Nemec, director Liebesman, and producer Bay are doing–and trust me–it IS AWESOME. I’m officially on board, and will share more as I’m allowed… thanks all! [Kevin Eastman’s Facebook via TDW]

Did somebody say awesome?

Also, we can’t let this post end without mentioning Conan O’Brien’s “shocking early footage of the film.” But be warned: this footage is quite a departure from the family-friendly turtles we grew up with:

If they’re aliens then they’re not mutants or really turtles, so they’re Teenage Alien Ninjas. That’s not the same thing. And if they’re aliens from another planet, why are they named after renaissance painters? I don’t remember Gerty calling E.T. Titian.